Osteria Mozza

Mozzarella is raised to a luscious new fresh-dining dimension

Considering the scene outside Osteria Mozza—and Pizzeria Mozza next door—it wouldn't be surprising if someday the corner of Melrose and Highland avenues became known as Piazza Mozza. Here, Angelenos patiently wait for their cars. Or their friends. Every table is filled—every night.

In a city with a seemingly insatiable appetite for Italian restaurants, the Mozzas have quickly shot to the top, which makes sense given the stellar collaboration behind them: L.A. chef Nancy Silverton, co-founder of local favorite Campanile as well as the legendary La Brea Bakery, and New York's Mario Batali, the larger-than-life Iron Chef, who operates a slew of restaurants with partner Joseph Bastianich in his hometown and in Las Vegas.

The heart and soul of Osteria Mozza is the no-reservations mozzarella bar, where Silverton presides over a subsection of the osteria's larger menu. Behind a smooth expanse of white Carrara marble, she turns out an array of lusty antipasti based on variations of the milky fresh Italian cheese. Bufala mozzarella (made from the milk of water buffalo) comes straight from Campania; burrata (a luscious combination of mozzarella and cream), from both Puglia and the southern California cheese maker Gioa.

In fact, the mozzarella bar is what sparked the alliance between Silverton and Batali. After enjoying a sumptuous antipasti spread at Silverton's house, chef Jeremiah Tower suggested she open a mozzarella bar—her version of one he'd come across in Rome. The idea clicked. And when she told Batali her plan, he immediately said he was in. The concept evolved into an osteria with a pizzeria next door, both with the moniker Mozza—short for mozzarella.

It's fun to sit at the mozzarella bar and watch Silverton work. Taking a smooth-skinned Meyer lemon from a bowl on the counter, she cuts three slender slices, lays them out on a plate and tops them with chunks of bufala mozzarella so fresh it's practically weeping milk. She lays fillets of special salt-cured Menaica anchovies over the top, and adds a little salad of mizuna greens in parsley vinaigrette. The rich taste of the mozzarella ever so lightly perfumed with lemon against the salt tang of the anchovy is simple but sublime. Fat, glistening leeks, braised to a khaki bronze, go into another of her favorite antipasti, leeks vinaigrette with creamy burrata and crunchy mustard bread crumbs.

The rest of the menu is a true collaboration. Chef Batali, who has his other restaurants to tend to, isn't behind the stoves. But he's there in spirit. Osteria Mozza's executive chef is Matt Molina, who worked with Silverton at Campanile, and the three of them—Nancy, Mario and Matt—develop the menu together. While it includes several of Batali's signature dishes, the osteria's food could be described as rustic Italian filtered through a California sensibility.

The best main courses are classic and simple, like one of Silverton's favorites, grilled baby Sonoma lamb chops scottadita ("burn your fingers"). The secret is the marinade—lots of fresh rosemary puréed with garlic and olive oil. She pairs the tender chops with a bright-tasting salad made with fregola sarda (Sardinian bread-crumb-shaped pasta), Japanese cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Side dishes are straight from the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Romanesco broccoli, with its graceful spiral pattern, comes to the table dressed in olive oil and vinegar and punctuated with red chili flakes. Fingerling potatoes are crusty and irresistible, sautéed in a smoking-hot skillet with rosemary and a dash of green-gold olive oil.

For dessert, Silverton wanted to serve torta della nonna ("grandmother's tart"), but not the usual version. So she came up with her own take, replacing the pastry cream with a combination of cheeses. Instead of a top crust, a delicate pine nut cookie is added, like a jaunty hat, at the last moment. The tart is served with a trio of artisanal honeys that vary in shade from pale to dark gold.

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